VIDEO: Boiling Water and Clogged Drains: When It Helps … and When It Hurts!

You need to watch this before pouring boiling water down your drains or toilet to clear clogged plumbing! Doing so could cause major damage to your home’s pipes and plumbing fixtures! Pouring a pot of boiling water down the drain is a fast, effective natural method to clear a clog, as it dissolves, melts or softens all that hair, makeup, toothpaste, mucus and other residue that comes off of or out of your body, backing up the sink, shower or bathtub. And doing so is generally fine if your home’s pipes are made of galvanized steel, copper or iron, which can withstand high temperatures without harm.

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But if your home is plumbed with PVC pipes, you’ll want to refrain from bringing things to a boil. That’s because pouring boiling water down these plastic pipes could cause them to melt, warp and distort, or damage fittings and connections — all of which is likely to result in plumbing problems, leaks or even flooding. Watch the video above to learn all about when — and when not — to use boiling water to clear a clog in your household plumbing, as well as some alternative pipe-cleaning methods that won’t cause damage.

The warning doesn’t just apply to your sink, shower and bathtub drains. When it comes to your toilet — much like you should avoid pouring boiling water on your tea leaves, lest you scald them and burn the flavor out — you should never pour it in the potty either. Sudden, severe temperature changes are likely to crack your commode, which is brittle — they don’t call it the porcelain throne for nuthin’!

Watch the video above to learn when it helps and when it hurts to pour boiling water down your drains to clear clogs — and what you can do instead. We’ll cover the following topics:

• Should you pour boiling water down the drain?

• How to clear a drain with boiling water

• Hot water drain cleaning

• Unclogging a drain safely

• Drain clog removal

• When to use boiling water in drains

• Can boiling water damage pipes?

• How to unclog drains without chemicals

• Plumbing tips for clogged drains

• DIY drain cleaning methods

• The best way to unclog a sink

• Is boiling water bad for PVC pipes?

• Kitchen sink clog fix

• Bathroom drain cleaning hacks

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